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Gil Viray
Gil Viray, nicknamed Drifter, was a Human male pilot who served in the Rebel Alliance during the First Galactic Civil War against the Galactic Empire. He was present at the briefing in the Great Temple on Yavin 4 prior to the Battle of Yavin IV, and was one of the pilots briefed by Jan Dodonna before the attack on the Death Star. Once the location of the hidden base had been discovered by Imperial forces, Gil was part of the Rebel starfighter forces mobilized to attack the Death Star, the Empire's planet-destroying superweapon. During the subsequent battle, Gil was managed to survive the battle, in which the Alliance managed to secure victory by destroying the battlestation. Biography A Human male born on an unknown Core World, Gil Viray left his family and eventually joined the Rebel Alliance during the First Galactic Civil War. He chose to serve in the Rebel Alliance Starfighter Corps due to his skill behind the controls of a starfighter, and was assigned to Red Squadron. In the year 0 BBY, Gil Viray, already nicknamed Drifter, was stationed at the hidden headquarters of the Alliance, Yavin Base, on the moon Yavin IV. Following the destruction of the planet Alderaan, Yavin Base was discovered by the commanders of the Galactic Empire's new superweapon, the Death Star. Imperial forces, under the direction of Lord Darth Vader and Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, had planted a homing beacon on the freighter Millennium Falcon. The ship's crew and passengers—which included the smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee partner Chewbacca, as well as the Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and the farmboy Luke Skywalker—had infiltrated the battlestation in the Alderaan System. On board, they effected the rescue of Princess Leia Organa, Alderaan's former senator and a high-ranking member of the Rebel Alliance. They were allowed to flee the Death Star—carrying the plans of the new battlestation with them—so that the Empire could track them to the hidden Rebel base. General Jan Dodonna, commander of Yavin Base, analyzed the plans and found a weakness—a thermal exhaust port, located in one of the Death Star's surface trenches, would be vulnerable to a proton torpedo assault. A successful attack would trigger a chain reaction that would destroy the station. Following the homing beacon concealed on the Millennium Falcon, the Death Star entered the Yavin System. As the Death Star approached Yavin IV, the starfighter squadrons at the base mobilized to meet the incoming threat. Under the command of Garven Dreis, Drifter launched in his T-65 X-Wing Starfighter alongside the other members of Red Squadron. During the battle, Viray was managed to survive in combat, and the Alliance managed to secure victory when another member of Red Squadron, Luke Skywalker, completed a dangerous run down the target trench and released proton torpedoes into the thermal exhaust port. The Death Star was destroyed, saving the personnel at Yavin Base and ending the threat the battlestation posed to the galaxy. He was among the surviving pilots that attended the ceremony where Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Luke Skywalker were rewarded for their bravery and heroism in destroying the Death Star and saving the Rebellion. Behind the scenes Gil Viray was played by John Chapman in A New Hope. He was one of the pilots in a scene set in the Rebel briefing room that was eventually cut from the final movie. Appearances *[[Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope|''Star Wars'' Episode IV: A New Hope]] Category:Humans Category:Males Category:Members of Red Squadron Category:Members of the Rebel Alliance Starfighter Corps